Lamoriello to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame's Builder category

newjerseydevils.com – Devils President/CEO/General Manager Lou Lamoriello has been selected for induction in the Builders category of the Hockey Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday.

Lamoriello will enter the Hall along with the 2009 class that includes Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Luc Robitaille. The induction ceremony will take place on Nov. 9 in Toronto.

“This award is completely unexpected,” Lamoriello said in a Hockey Hall of Fame press release. “Over my career I have been fortunate to have been associated with great players and coaches, and this award recognizes their contributions to my career.”

Lamoriello has guided the Devils to Stanley Cup championships in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Under his leadership, Jersey's Team has an all-time mark of 873-601-208 in the regular season, 121-102 in the playoffs.

New Jersey recorded a franchise-record 51 wins last season en route to its 11th 100-point season and eighth Atlantic Division title – all under Lamoriello.

Lamoriello joined the Devils in 1987 following two decades at Providence College, where he coached the Friars to 12 straight postseason tournaments in 15 seasons and a .578 winning percentage (248-179-13).

He inherited a Devils squad that had finished tied for last place overall the previous season, and built them into one of the National Hockey League's elite franchises. With his first-ever amateur pick as general manager – Brendan Shanahan, second overall in 1987 – Lamoriello took the first step toward one of the greatest front office careers in NHL history.

When Shanahan departed for St. Louis four years later, Lamoriello was compensated with Scott Stevens, who became a cornerstone of the club's title teams and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

Lamoriello famously traded down from the 11th pick at the 1990 Entry Draft and selected Martin Brodeur 20th overall. Brodeur went on to become the winningest goaltender in NHL history with his 552nd victory last March.

In 1989, Lamoriello proved instrumental in importing Soviet talent to the NHL when he succeeded in signing Red Army greats Slava Fetisov and Sergei Starikov.

The Devils' AHL affiliate Albany River Rats won the 1995 Calder Cup, marking the first time since 1977 that an organization had celebrated NHL and AHL titles in the same season.

Lamoriello's front office accomplishments extend beyond the NHL and into international and collegiate competition. He served as general manager of Team USA for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano after helping to lead the U.S. to a championship in the first-ever World Cup in 1996.

Lamoriello was one of five founders of the NCAA's Hockey East Association, which features Boston College, Boston University, Maine, UMass, UMass Lowell, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Providence, and Vermont. He was the association commissioner from 1983-87, and the Lamoriello Trophy has served as Hockey East's championship prize since 1989.

A native of Johnston, Rhode Island, Lamoriello played, coached and managed in the Cape Cod Baseball League and was elected into its Hall of Fame on June 7.